One of the major objectives of the Upper Arkansas River Corridor
Study was to document the fate and effects of contaminated Arkansas River
flows on the aquifers in the river valley. In order to achieve this objective,
data on the spatial and temporal variations in the river water quality
were necessary. Spatial variations in the river water quality would result
in spatial differences in the ground-water contamination. Temporal variations
in river water quality would cause differences in the quality of the recharge
over time at a particular location. Therefore, the design of the study
included investigation of existing data and collection of new data on the
river water chemistry.

The KGS collected samples from the Arkansas River to characterize different
types of flow events during the study. For example, a photograph shows
sampling during the high river flow at the Charleston
bridge in northwest Gray County on August 8, 1995. Other state and local
agencies, including the Division of Water Resources (DWR) of the Kansas
Department of Agriculture (KDA), Groundwater Management District No. 3,
Southwest Kansas Local Environmental Planning Group,
Division of Plant Health of the KDA, and the Kansas Department of Health
and Environment also collected river water samples for the study in cooperation
with the KGS for the period during and soon after the high-flow event of
the summer of 1995. Starting in 1997, the DWR began a cooperative
program with the KGS for periodic collection of Arkansas River waters at
selected sites. The KGS analyzed the samples collected in its laboratories
in Lawrence, Kansas.

The KGS analyzed the existing and new data to determine the chemical
characteristics, the spatial and temporal variations in the chemistry,
the sources of salinity, and the usability of Arkansas River water in southwest
Kansas. The results are in the report Water
Quality of the Arkansas River in Southwest Kansas in this web site.